My first Shasta attempt, with Sebastien and Peter Altherr. Left Horse Camp @ 3.00 (probably my earliest "alpine" start (@ least until then)- ouch! Had uneventful march to summit, Sebastien and I arriving @ 11.20. Albeit a tad cold initially, great weather! Glissaded on the way down upon reaching Red Banks to below Lake Helen. We spoke with this beautiful girl (yousers!) briefly before continuing down to camp and collapsing.

11 August, 2001 (via Hotlum Glacier):

Summited for the 2nd time during glacier travel/crevasse rescue seminar, with Reid's group (R.I.P. Reid), of Shasta Mtn. Guides. Leaving camp (on the N side, ~10,000') @ 4.15, we proceeded up the Hotlum Glacier, going to the W of the upper ice fall. At the base of the headwall, we turned R (W), crossing the large bergschrund to gain 'the Step.' We then went up a steep gully to a notch, joining a steep, icy couloir. A dirt & scree hike to summit plateau ensued. Summited @ 11.23. We descended the Hotlum-Bolam ridge. Nice climb & beautiful day.

13 March, 2005:

Finally completed Casaval Ridge, with Matthias Seeger. After attempting this route 3-4 times before this without success, having been turned back for various reasons, this was extremely satisfying. Leaving Horse Camp @ 3.35 after sleeping 3 hrs & waking up to prepare @ 2.30, we topped out on the route ~ 12.20. Schwiezer Matthias skied down into Avalanche Gulch @ 11,500' or so. Reaching the summit ridge following the Catwalk (~13,400'; we could see the glacier), winds that I estimate were in excess of 90 mph posed a considerable problem. Lying flat to the ground & yelling to communicate, 2' from one another (& having limited success as such), we decided to descend. I've not been in a wind storm of that severity in my life. Probably a good thing, as the monitering station @ Grey Butte showed the storm intensifying for the next few hours. Sorta bummed I didn't get my close 1st 14er winter summit (esp. on Shasta), but excited that I completed Casaval- a lot of fun! Goes to show- you may come to play on Shasta when you like, but she writes the rules, & allows you success (or not).

18 March, 2007:

FINALLY got my first 14er winter ascent- on Shasta via Casaval, too- just the way I wanted! Thanks, Kris, for keeping on going & helping me to do the same. Getting 1 hour (max) of sleep at Bunny Flat the night before (thanks all you obnoxious assholes with your "own agenda"), after an initially promising start from Bunny Flat at 2.47, we arrived as virtual zombies on the summit at 13.45 (we were at sea level less than a day before). Regardless, great day to be up there. Forgetting the snowshoes was a BAD idea- the worst postholing experience I've ever had (probably added 1 - 2 hours to our descent).

The manager of my local climbing shop had guided a group up the prior week and dug a snow cave at 9800, so a shop employee and myself moved into the cave and then went to the top. Casaval is a classic winter route and should not be missed.

climbed with four other fellas as a prep for ecuador. I think we left horse camp around 2:00am and summitted around 8:00 in various states of disrepair. Glissading was hella fun and made it all worth it, but better check your arresting skills tho, cause the top part can get pretty steep. Overall . . . NICE!

Rode my bicycle from Olympia, WA, down the Oregon coast, over to Crater Lake, and then down to Shasta. On July 4th I got my permit and rode up to Bunny Flat. On July 5th at 3:00 in the morning I left the Bunny Flat parking lot up to the summit. Summited at about 9:00am. On July 6th, mounted the bike and headed down to ride to the summit of White Mountain near Bishop, CA, but that's another story.

Clear Night. Departed Hiking Cabin at 2:00 AM and reached the summit at 6:30 AM. I bypassed spring hill which saved time and stayed on the snow around the hill. Route was well consolodated throughout the heart (Almost Icy).Very Icy at the red banks. 62 mph wind at the summit. Began to whiteout right as I was descending. Glisaded all the way down a little past Lake Helen and Boot skied the rest of the way. Took only 2 hours to descend to Horse Camp. Overll, great trip.

My son, Ben, and I took Mountaineering training from Shasta Mountian Guides the weekend before the climb. Ben thought it to much to try for the summit, so I went solo. Great weather but windy. Camped a few hundred feet below Helen Lake to avoid the gale force winds. listened to rocks crashing down from the ridges and the howl of the wind throughout the night. Started for the summit the next morning at 4:00AM. The snow conditions very good for most of the ascent. Took my time and soaked in the view. reached the summit at 12:30 PM. The glissade back to camp was a blast!

First time in Shasta Wilderness, we camped at Panther Meadows. After reading and researching, we decided to attempt single day ascend through Avalanche Gulch. We got to Bunny Flat at 1am and started hiking into the darkness. Our pace to Horse Camp was pretty good - we got there in 40 minutes. After a short break and signing in the Horse Camp log, we continued towards Lake Helen. Our headlamps turned out to be not too good, and we lost our trail 30-40 minutes after we left Horse Camp. Somehow we managed to scramble the scree and get back onto the trail right below the Lake Helen. Night was clear and beautiful.. At some point for 10-15 minutes we were witnessing a shooting star almost every minute. Last few hundred feet before Lake Helen were really exhausting. We arrived to Lake Helen at around 4am, a little over 2 hours since we left Horse Camp. After resting and trying to shake off the exhaustion for 1 hour, we decided not to continue and instead watch sunrise and take our time. We promised ourselves to come back and climb it all the way to the top next spring!

Summit was very nice. Arrived at the summit around 1:00 pm. Started around 9:30 am from Helen Lake. The Rangers were turning people back by the Red Banks in the morning because of whiteout conditions.

We were going to just hike up the the Red banks to acclimate then the weather cleared out and we kept going. Sweet victory! No one else on top except for another guy who was training for a 23,000 footer in mexico. Great climb!!!

3rd time up Shasta, once via the Hotlum Glacier, twice up Avalanche Gulch. The most recent ascent, with ScottyS, was 14er #14 of the 15 CA 14ers we did this summer. Perfect weather except for a cloud bank enveloping part of the route just above the Red Banks. Clear on top, no wind, no tourists, although we passed 10 or so on the way up. Our ascent from Bunny Flat took a little more than 4.5 hours.

Left Bunny Flat at 2 pm , arrived at Lake Helen at 530 pm, beautiful weather ... the full moon made it great for hiking w/o headlamps in the am ... left camp at 430 am , watched the sunrise at Red Banks , summited at 830 am ,wonderful clear skies , no wind ! My first 14er and did it solo ! Summited again via HB Ridge , awesome route away from crowds !

Climbed w/bearbnz for our 2nd-to-last 14'er on our "Dayhiking the CA 14'ers" summer tour. Left the car at a late 0645 and summited at 1135. No snow to use, but frozen sand up the right-hand gully was the fastest part of the climb. Wind at the summit was 0-5mph, clouds to the ESE. Perfect!